Thursday, February 28, 2013

Review: Emperor

I'll admit, I really liked this movie. But, I also have an affinity for movies about Japan. Emperor tells the story of America's occupation / rebuilding of Japan following the end of World War II. It follows General Bonner Fellers as he investigates the Emperor of Japan's involvement in the build up to World War II. The movie is part investigation and part love story. Unfortunately, the love story aspects seemed tacked on to give some backstory on General Fellers and to give him some more humanity. It ends up slowing the movie down and making it feel disjointed. Thankfully, the acting is great, the cinematography is phenomenal (recreating a war torn Japan and decimated Tokyo), and the overall story is very interesting. There is some really well done exploration of Japanese culture and their relationship with the Emperor. I'd love for everyone to see it but I think you should probably